If nothing else is handy, use paper towels or tissues. Try to blot rather than wipe, bearing in mind that cloths and tissues can also leave residues. If the spill is quite big, tilting the laptop towards an air vent and shaking it gently can help get more liquid out. So can unscrewing the bottom of the case and removing the hard drive, though you should be careful not to touch any of the electronics.
A pro would wear an anti-static wrist strap. If the liquid is from the bad end of the spectrum, and will leave residues from for example milk and sugar, wipe the laptop down with a damp lint-free cloth.
I spilled milk on my arrow keys on my Macbook Pro. What do I do? | Tom's Hardware Forum
When you have done as much as you can, leave the laptop propped up somewhere warm to dry for at least a day, and preferably for two days. Don't use a hair dryer, which will blow hot dust into a sticky environment. The next step depends on the size and type of spill, and the price of the laptop. If you've only spilled a small amount of clean water on it, you may well get away with it. If your laptop has been hit with a large caramel frappuccino topped with whipped cream and extra syrup then it will need a thorough cleaning.
You can strip it down and do this yourself, but it takes a lot of time and effort. You can get a computer repair shop to do it, but with a cheap laptop, the cost may be more than it's worth. When you are sure the laptop is absolutely dry, you can replace the battery and see if it starts. If it boots the operating system, does everything else work? If the keyboard doesn't work, try plugging in a USB keyboard: most computer shops and many supermarkets sell keyboards at very low prices.
This may allow you to retrieve any data that hasn't been backed up. You can remove and clean a sticky keyboard using a damp cloth or soft toothbrush and distilled water before drying it thoroughly, and in extreme cases, people try methylated spirits ethanol or solvents isopropyl alcohol.
However, given the low cost of replacement keyboards, it may not be worth the effort. With today's one-piece keyboard assemblies, fixed with only two screws, it's much easier to replace a keyboard than to clean it. It's a five-minute job you can do yourself. Search online for the brand name and model, and you will probably be able to find a repair or field service manual with instructions, though LaptopKeyboard.
There are also lots of YouTube videos that will walk you through the process, some of them posted by the manufacturers themselves eg Dell. Drink spills are a risk to laptops in many environments, including coffee shops and aeroplanes. If you are using a laptop at home, however, you can reduce the risk and improve your health by putting your laptop on a riser or a stack of books or whatever and using an external mouse and keyboard. Try to raise the laptop so the top of the screen is roughly level with your eyebrows, while the keyboard should be roughly level with your elbows.
How to Save Your Laptop After a Spill
This will put you in a better position, ergonomically speaking, and if you spill a drink, it's more likely to ruin the cheap USB keyboard than the expensive laptop. It is never the same side, and it is never the same period of time. Other than that the mac works just fine, no overheating, played a game for about 30 minutes it works just fine, same commands response as usual, no data lost. I am glad I got on this page because your questions and answers really helped. Just today I dropped a full cup of tea on the keyboard of my MBP.
I picked up the computer and the tea poured out. I dried it off and took it to the Apple Store.
What should you do if you spill liquid on your Macbook keyboard?
They showed me photos of the wet battery and hard drive. They told me to google and find a remedy. I am relying on the good words and wishes of the people here. Going to buy rice tomorrow. Rice never worked for me. I once poured water over my iPhone and covered it in a bowl of rice. I suppose your MBP is dead.
A damaged logic board is all it takes for a MBP to be toast.
THE TECH GAME
A couple of weeks ago I spilled a full cup of coffee over my MacBook Pro… My cup was right next to the optical drive so the fluids went over the whole keyboard. After 1 or 2 seconds of total shock and regret I flipped it upside down in order to get the fluids out. To me, this was the best and logical idea at that moment to prevent any further damage to the components.
After holding it upside down for 1 minute I dried all the surfaces with a towel.
At that time I thought that it was about to shut down and be toast any second. To my surprise it kept working. No black screen, no immediate shut down whatsoever. So my all or nothing attitude took over. I kept it on and waited for it to go black and dead. Nothing like that ever happened. My MacBook was on the bed; I reached to drink water from a lidded container, but the lid was not secure. It spilled onto the blanket that the MBP was resting on, and pooled enough for the water to seep into all those ports, etc on the left edge.
The screen went black. I immediately tilted it sideways and let the water drain not much, but clearly enough to do damage. After reading a couple of sites, I powered it down — although it already seemed off. When I pressed and held the power button, it did make that click. Less than a minute later, the fan started running. I powered it down again and same thing happened again.
Third time, it stayed powered down. This is not a keyboard issue, but water into the left-side ports.
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Thanks for the helpful and encouraging article. I read it because our 5-year-old MacBook took a glass of sweetened tea on the keyboard and all around the edges. I ran a little cold water over it, hoping to wash off the sugar. I put it back together and powered it up. All the keys still worked. Everything still seems to be fine, several hours later. Well, im one of those who has a toddler that decided to grab my coffee that was unfortunately sitting next to my laptop and yes you guessed it, he spilled it over the right keyboard area.
I immediately grabbed my laptop, cursed the world for ever leaving my laptop and coffee near a almost 2 year old, and flipped my laptop over without a care in the world about anything else i.
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I was devastated and felt so much guilt and sadness because I realized the obvious of never being able to recover the 23, pictures I saved or having my laptop on again. I then had the thought of vacuuming the keyboard with a small heavy duty shop vac. With the look of defeat on my face I turned it back on and I knew it would turn on I just didnt know the damage.
I tried all the keys and realized that the only sticky one is the right shift key and other than that the laptop works just fine. Now I dont know if this will eventually bite me in the ass, since I read here in the treads that corrosion does exist. Nevertheless I am hopeful that my laptop is safe out of coffees harms way. This kid will be the death of me. The board was shorted and the keys work no longer. For restarting I have to reconnect the cord again but now I rarely shut down my mac and use its sleep function instead.
Once in a while I restart it.